Rand's View
located in Falls Village, CT. is a
great spot to take in a fantastic
panoramic view of the northern
Berkshire Mountains. Situated
along the Appalachian Trail,
Rand's View is well known to those
who hike the entire Appalachian
Trail. It's perhaps the jewel of
Connecticut as far as Appalachian
Trail hikers are concerned. Along
Connecticut's portion of the
trail, many hikers tell other
hikers about Rand's View to give
them a highlight to look forward
to. It's a quiet place with a
majestic view that looks out over
open fields and up towards the
Berkshire Mountains. It's
beautiful and would surely inspire
artists of all types. At Rand's
View you can sit back, relax, and
take in the scene forever. Nestled
in a spot where farmland/open
fields sit within dense woodlands,
things spread out in front of you
and on a crystal clear day you can
see very far away. The mountains
just seem to keep rolling on. It's
unusual in this part of New
England to see so far with so
little evidence of humankind. A
person sitting in this spot 200
years ago would have had the same
view. A bonus to Rand's View is
that it's located in a remote area
(remote in the Connecticut sense,
not the Alaskan!). You really get
the feeling that you've hiked in a
good distance and come upon a
special place. I was going to post
a panoramic photo but I think I
should just let you enjoy it for
yourselves without any impressions
in your mind...a picture just
wouldn't do it justice.
You can access Rand's View from
Fall's Village or from Route 44
trail head in Salisbury. We're
recommending the Fall's Village
option, as it incorporates the
waterfall at Falls Village and
Prospect Mountain with its
easterly views.
When you begin your hike at Falls
Village, you have two different
starting points to choose
from...depending upon how far you
want to hike. Both options follow
the Appalachian Trial to Prospect
Mountain and Rand's View. One
option is to park back at the
hydroelectric power station when
you first pull into the old Iron
Works area. From here you can
follow the Appalachian Trail which
actually follows the road for
about a half mile as it passes the
hydroelectric station, crosses
over the old iron bridge, and then
up along the banks of the
Housatonic River and waterfall
region. Near the top of the
waterfall, the Appalachian Trail
turns left and heads into the
woods and eventually to Rand's
View. The other option is to start
near the top of the waterfall and
head directly into the woods.
Once you enter the woods, the
noise of the waterfall and any
people enjoying this region
quickly fades as a dense cover of
forest takes over. Soon you'll
enter a nice open field section
that has a great southern view
near its top. Turn around before
entering into the forest again...a
nice view to hold you over! The
trail quickly rises and enters
into some thick woodlands. For the
next mile and a half, the hike
isn't steep but continually rises
all the way to Prospect Mountain.
It's a deceptive hike, so bring
plenty of water and food so you
can rest and fuel up on top of
Prospect Mountain. There's a nice
view east from Prospect Mountain;
but you don't want to stop there
as Rand's View is even more
impressive. From Prospect
Mountain, it's another mile or so
to Rand's View. About a half mile
past Prospect, there's a
campground for overnight hikers.
Don't take the left to the
campground. Go right to Rand's
View. There's a sign that tells
you it's 500 feet down the trail,
but some folks could easily get a
little confused. When you arrive
at Rand's View, you emerge from
dark forest cover to a bright wide
open field with beautiful
mountains rolling on and on. It's
a great sight and really
encouraging that places like this
still exist in Connecticut. If you
need a good workout with some
peace and tranquility tossed in,
Rand's View should be on your list
of things to do!
Directions: (You
can also choose to hike to Rand's
View from the Appalachian Trail
off of Route 44 just few miles
north of the center of Salisbury.)
But since we're recommending the
Falls Village route here are the
directions to Falls Village. Get
on Route 7 and head towards Falls
Village (northwestern region of
Connecticut). At the intersection
of Route 7 and Route 126 in Falls
Village, go west on Rt. 126
following the signs for Falls
Village.
A short distance later you'll come
upon the center of town.
An old railroad car diner will be
easily seen.
The next left after diner take the
small road (Water St.) as it dips
down under the railroad bridge.
A few hundred yards later the
hydro-electric power station will
be clearly visible on your left.
A nice parking area greets you
with a decent information board.
This is also where you can park
for the wheel-chair friendly trail
loop that the local community
built for those who have limited
access to hiking trails.
To get to the waterfall section go
past the power station and over
the old iron bridge (one-lane road
over the bridge. If another car is
already on the other side when you
get to the bridge, give them the
right of way).
Just over the bridge take the
first right (Housatonic River Rd.)
Don't go straight onto Falls
Mountain Rd. A short distance
later you'll see a "scenic
overview" sign. You can park here
and walk a few feet up to the
Appalachian Trail markers or park
up at the very top in the gated
parking lot which closes at
sunset. If you happen to be hiking
with small children don't let them
run up ahead to the waterfalls
alone. There are no barriers and
the water can rush through here
with a lot of power.
There is another option for hiking
up to Rand's View. It's shorter
but wouldn't take in the Prospect
Mountain views nor some of the
open field views that you can get
by hiking in via Falls Village
waterfall area. Although, with
this alternative route, you could
always hike over to Prospect
Mountain without too much trouble
before or after viewing Rand's
View. For this third option, you'd
take the right hand turn onto
Housatonic River Road just after
the iron bridge, just as you would
for parking at waterfall. But
instead of going up to the falls
parking lot, take the first left
off of Housatonic River Road.
Sugar Hill Road will go for
about a 1/2 mile and then end. In
between the last two houses on the
left is a small parking
area...could only handle 4 or 5
cars at the most. It looks as
though you might be parking on
private property but it's okay to
park in the small parking lot. DO
NOT park in the actual driveways
that belong to the homes. Then you
hike down the dirt road into the
woods and in a short distance
you'll see the blue hash marks and
a sign that says "Foot trail". The
hike to Rand's View from here is
probably 2 miles round trip. This
trail leads to Rand's View via the
Appalachian Trail campground. It's
a fairly flat trail until you get
to the campground area. Then a
very steep, but short, section of
trail passes along the cascading
waters that tumble down off the
gigantic rock formations. It can
be slippery because of the rocks
and fallen leaves, with some steep
drop offs, but nothing to worry
about as long as you watch your
step. It's actually a beautiful
section of trail. Keep following
the trail as it follows the stream
and flattens out again. (Some may
get confused and lose track of the
trail but just keep looking for
the blue hash marks and if you
somehow become totally
disoriented, just follow along the
stream and the trail will come
back to you because the trail
follows nearby the stream nearly
the whole way.) Soon you'll come
upon the Appalachian Trail. Take a
left and Rand's View is about a
minute down the trail. Or head
over to Prospect Mountain first to
take in some nice views then go
down to Rand's View. It's a half
of a mile to Prospect, so that
adds a mile to your hike up and
back.
Printable
version of the Rand's View page
If you have any trail updates to
share or have feedback/questions
please click
here to send email or call
203.788.7665
|
